Terenia sighs as bits of her attempted rescue missions stream by in fast forward. Attacks, morphs, failed manipulations. All end with her being caught, all end in Visser Three's torture chamber.
The scene stops on one particular undertaking.
Terenia is in human morph, walking down the halls of the Blade Ship. The Yeerks that she passes give her a wide berth, knowing not to touch the pet of Visser Three. She arrives at a door and a look of confusion sweeps across her face. She seems to shake it off, opening the door and walking through.
The room she enters is huge, the size of a ballroom. In the center is the ship board Yeerk Pool. Cages ring the sides of the room, occupied by defeated hosts who stare blankly. At the far end of the room there is a cozy little area, set up with plush couches and several circular tables. A Gedd in an apron is taking orders. There are very few occupants, almost off of which are Taxxons or Gedds. Almost no Hork-Bajir, except for those on pier duty. Terenia's eyes alight with wary hope as she approaches one of the tables. A girl is sitting there, eating a cheeseburger. She looks exactly like Terenia's human morph.Terenia plops down next to her and pulls a Dracon Beam from under her shirt. Keeping the weapon hidden under the table she presses it against her sister's thigh.
"Alright, Yeerk," Terenia hisses in a whisper, keeping a wary eye on the Gedd waiter, "follow me and we won't have any problems."
The girl fixes Terenia with a sympathetic gaze, "Teresa," she says, "my Yeerk is currently feeding."
Terenia almost drops the weapon in surprise, but she regains her composure quickly, "what? Tammy, you mean you're free? We don't have much time, then. Come on, we have to go!"
Tammy's eyes remain sympathetic as she pops a fry in her mouth. Slowly it dawns on Terenia that her sister is free, but isn't in a cage. Slowly, she realizes what that means.
"Tammy..." Terenia pleads, "Tammy, come on. Let's go."
"No," Tamara says, taking a sip of her Coke and slamming it down on the table harshly.
"But...I don't understand...why?" Terenia grabs her sister's arm, as though she is going to drag her out of the pool room.
"You left us," Tamara said, the sympathy in her expression morphing into something else. Hurt. Betrayal. "You ran away and you promised me that you would come back. But you never did. We waited for you, and here you decided to go off and fight in some interstellar war. You didn't even try to come home."
"It wasn't that simple," Terenia hisses, "I didn't ask to get abducted, it just kinda happened."
"No, but you chose to let some fabrication return in your place. You think I wouldn't see through that?" Tammy accuses. When Terenia's face pales, Tamara nods grimly, "yeah, I've seen some of your file. I know why Visser Three finds you so interesting."
"Tammy, we have to go. Now. Before he sends his guards..."
"Teresa, you killed Danny," Tamara says. Terenia drops her hold on Tamara's arm, eyes widening as though she has been slapped.
"I had no choice," Terenia says, tears welling in her eyes.
"You abandoned me," Tamara's voice is raising above a whisper now, and she is beginning to draw attention, "you left me alone with that bastard of a father of ours and then to top it off you killed our brother! And now you want to save me? Now? Now that it's convenient for you? Why? Because it will help heal your wounded pride?"
"Tammy, no, I want to help you!" Terenia cries, tears streaming silently down her face.
"Go to hell," Tamara says scathingly.
"But the Yeerks...they're destroying Earth. How can you support that?"
"What has humanity ever done for me?" Tamara asks, eyes narrowing, "our father beat us, our mother was a coward. My sister abandoned me and my brother, the only decent person I ever knew, is dead. If that's what humanity is, then it deserves to rot."
"Tammy..."
"Go away, Teresa. You aren't wanted here," Tamara presses a button on her watch and a shrill beep sounds. A moment later the door to the pool room opens up and Visser Three steps through, looking positively giddy. Terenia's stomach drops as she realizes that the entire situation - the lack of guards, her sister being one of the only voluntary hosts in the area - was a set up.
<I believe that counts as another failure, Terenia.> Visser Three says, an evil glint in his eyes. Several Hork-Bajir warriors advance forward. Terenia jumps up, the chair clattering behind her as her heart fills with dread.
"No," Terenia says, shaking her head, "no, not again." She turns to her sister, but her storm colored eyes are expressionless, "Tammy, please, please! Don't let him...don't..."
She turns and tries to run, but the Hork-Bajir catch her human form easily, restraining her even as she fights with all her strength. She is sobbing as she kicks at her captors, slicing herself on their blades and not even noticing. Terenia cries out for her sister, who watches blankly.
"I will save you, Tammy! I will!" Terenia cries out through her tears, "I'm going to fix this! I promise!"
Terenia continues to sob as the Hork-Bajir drag her to Visser Three's torture chamber and the memory fades.
The real Terenia is also crying, silent tears sliding down her face in shining droplets.
"It was my fault," she murmurs, almost more to herself than her audience, "I caused this, and I have to fix it. I won't endanger anyone else."
